Billiards

When and under what circumstances winning hazard games were invented, billiard history does not record. Every player, however, must have met men with little aptitude for the more scientific game of billiards, who, being blessed with good sight and sound nerve, play well at pyramids and pool. For their benefit these games were doubtless produced, demanding as they do considerable skill and knowledge, and lending themselves especially to being played for money. It is an established fact that persons will play billiards for nothing who would never dream of playing pyramids, &c. for love; and also that many who would think twice before risking a shilling or half a crown on a hundred game at billiards would lightly and cheerfully take part in a game of pyramids or pool for stakes at which a far greater sum can readily be lost or won.

One thing the beginner must remember—that he will have to pay for his experience. He may be a fair hazard striker, with a moderate power of cue and sound ideas about strength and position, but until he has played a good many games of pool and pyramids, with the money up, and has overcome the nervousness incidental to playing in public for a stake, he will never master the game. All must go through the fiery ordeal of the public room, where every shot is fired in earnest and there are no blank cartridges. The price to be paid must depend on the beginner’s nerve and his aptitude for such games, but he will find that practice and observation work wonders, and that when he has watched fine players and played with them, his losses will begin to dwindle, and gradually transform themselves into winnings.

A few general hints may not be out of place before discussing the different games in detail. It is really important to use the same cue as far as possible; it is as essential as one’s own gun, bat, or racquet, and as jointed cues can now be procured, which are easily carried in the hand or packed in a portmanteau, it is prudent to get one. Some players fancy a heavy cue, with a broad top, for winning hazards; but this is a matter of taste, and it is generally wise always to use the same weapon. It should be remembered, in playing pool or pyramids after billiards, that the balls are usually smaller, lighter, and less true. Another essential point is a strict adherence to rules. It is an unfortunate thing for billiards that this principle is not observed with rigid strictness, that fouls are often not claimed, that players are allowed to get on the table, and so forth; but the curious thing is that, lax as many men are on these points over a game of billiards played for nothing, they are very strict when they are playing for money; so as long as billiards is played, it is perhaps well that there should be a small stake on the game, if only to induce every one to make Sarah Battle’s whist the model of what his billiards should be. Her celebrated wish was ‘the rigour of the game. She took and gave no concessions. She hated favours. She never made a revoke, nor ever passed it over in her adversary without exacting the utmost forfeiture;’ and where she emphatically asserted that cards were cards, I repeat that billiards is billiards. Again, the etiquette of the room should be most carefully observed, though it is frequently neglected. It is the duty of the man who has played his stroke to retire ‘to a reasonable distance and keep out of the line of sight’—the rules require this; but there are many people, unfortunately, who think this a good time to light a pipe, talk in a loud tone of voice to a bystander, give stentorian orders to the waiter, and so forth, forgetting that a game is in progress which is making every demand on the striker’s nerve and self-possession. Such offenders are numerous, they are public nuisances in the room, and it is small consolation to the persons disturbed to be assured that their delinquencies were unintentional. Any game that is worth playing at all is worth playing seriously and strenuously, and the cultivation of habits of silence, decorum, and self-restraint is a duty we owe to our friend the enemy and have a right to expect from him in return.

PYRAMIDS

This game is played with one white and fifteen red balls, the latter being set up in the form of a triangle or pyramid, with the apex-ball nearest to the baulk-line and on the pyramid spot. As a rule, only two players take part in a game, and the order of playing is decided by lot. The first stroke is played from the Ｄ, as are all subsequent strokes if the white ball has gone into a pocket or has been forced off the table. The object of the game is to hole the red balls with the white, each ball so holed counting as one; but, should the striker make a losing hazard (notwithstanding that he holes a red ball with the same stroke), or force a red ball or his own off the table, or miss altogether, he loses a ball—i.e. one is deducted from his score and a ball put up on the table. Any ball or balls he may have taken by such a stroke are put up as well. If the striker’s score is love, and he incurs this penalty, he is said to owe one (or more, as the case may be), and no ball can be put up till he has made a winning hazard; if he owes more than one, a ball is restored for each hazard he makes, until he has paid off his debts. After a miss the next player plays from where the white ball stops; but if the latter is pocketed or forced off the table he plays from the Ｄ at any ball he chooses, whether in baulk or not. When only two balls—the white and one red—are left on the table, the game becomes single pool; after white has played on red, red plays on white, and so on till one of the two is holed.

These are the salient points of the game; other details may be gleaned from the printed rules which should be in every billiard-room. Points are scored (see Rules 4 and 5)^[20] by giving balls or owing balls, or both. When a player gives one or more balls, they are scored to his opponent before the game begins, and are removed from the table. If he owes one or more, the first time a winning hazard is made the ball is put up on the table, and nothing is added to the striker’s score till all the balls he owes have been put up. When the odds are combined, each ball given is removed, and no hazard counts till all debts are paid; e.g. if he gives one and owes two, one ball is removed (see Rule 4), his opponent scores one, and the giver of odds cannot score till he has holed two balls, each of which has to be put back on the table (see Rule 18).

The rules for foul strokes are the same as at billiards, but if a player wilfully touch a moving ball, he loses the game;^[21] to do so accidentally makes that stroke foul (see also Rule 23).

I once saw a pretty commentary on Rule 18, which directs that a ball which has to be put up be placed on the pyramid spot. The player, who owed four, made a hazard and got exact position behind the pyramid spot in a line with the corner pocket, and, screwing back each time, holed each ball as it was put up.

Balls forced off the table are put up again, but the striker’s break is at an end unless he also holes a ball (see Rules 18 and 19).

Nothing can be said on the question of handicapping players. Of course their relative skill at billiards affords no criterion of their relative powers at pyramids. A few games will best decide the question; but it may be remarked that to give a ball is a far higher handicap than to owe a ball, as the adversary starts with a point to the good, and there are only fourteen coloured balls on the table; whereas the player who owes a ball only forfeits the first hazard he makes.

Before the game commences the first step is to set up the balls properly. In theory each ball should touch its immediate neighbours, but in practice this is of course impossible. They should, however, be collected in the triangle, and then rolled smartly up and down parallel to the sides of the table, the apex-ball never going beyond the pyramid spot. After this has been done two or three times the motion should be sharply stopped when the apex-ball is on the spot, and the pyramid will then be fairly correct. There are three ways of playing the first stroke, two of them unsound. The first wrong way is to smash the pyramid by a vicious hit from baulk, for which Captain Crawley, in ‘The Billiard Book,’ recommends a mysterious ‘under-handed stroke;’ but in whatever way the stroke is played it is unsound, as there are only two pockets behind the pyramid into which to drive a ball. The second wrong method is to play slowly up the table with a little side, missing the pyramid on the upward journey, and just dropping on to it from the top cushion. Old-fashioned players are fond of this opening, but it is not sound, as the adversary can easily get safe, or, if he likes, he can smash with four pockets open to him. Whether he be wise to do so is another question; with a weak adversary, to whom he is giving odds, it may be advisable. I have seen no less than five balls disappear after such a stroke; but if a winning hazard is not made, the break of course goes to the other side: it is a matter of speculation, the chances being naturally in favour of the stronger player. At no time should a smash be tried except when four pockets are open—i.e. from the top of the table; a stab or screw back should be used, so as to avoid as far as possible the mob of flying balls, which may kiss the white into a pocket. The third and orthodox opening is to play at the end ball of the row next the base of the pyramid with strength sufficient to leave the white ball as near to the bottom cushion as possible. If the pyramid is properly set up, the opponent has no easy stroke left, though occasionally a ball is malignant enough to detach itself and come down the table. This is generally the result of either careless setting up or of striking too hard, but if this opening stroke is properly played, the second player will have nothing better to play for than a more or less difficult stroke for safety, and so the game will proceed till the pyramid is gradually shaken and finally broken up; but in playing for safety it is sometimes advisable to disturb the pyramid, if possible, it being difficult for one’s opponent to steer a safe course when there are rocks ahead in the shape of balls.

It is often safe to leave the white ball near the pyramid, provided that it has not been greatly disturbed; for, if the players are equal, neither should risk a smash, for it is, after all, even betting which player profits. The best safety of all is to leave the adversary far away from a ball and as near to a cushion as possible; but if he can retaliate in kind, not much good will have been done. Watch the score, and play to the score. The leader should play a cautious rather than a dashing game, as a losing hazard not only diminishes his score by a point, but also gives his adversary the advantage of playing from baulk with an extra ball on the table. ‘When in doubt play for safety,’ is a golden rule, but a doubtful hazard may often be tried when one can get safety as well. Beginners should be cautioned to watch carefully for foul strokes, especially when the rest or spider is being used. A knowledge of the spot stroke and its variations is invaluable, involving, as this stroke does, every form of screw, stab, and following stroke; while the stop stroke is also most useful—i.e. a sort of stab that leaves the white ball on the place just vacated by the red.

When a player is familiar with ordinary winning hazards, and can make them with some facility, he should devote himself to the making of breaks—i.e. a series of hazards. Diagrams I. and II. may serve as examples, showing how position should be got so that one hazard may lead on to another.

Nor should the famous dictum about the spot stroke be forgotten—viz. that the first and most important point is to make sure of putting in the red. Supposing, then, that the balls are left as in Diagram I., the problem is to take them all in a break, which may be done as follows, the figures representing the successive positions of the white ball:—From position 1 there is an easy hazard, and position 2 may be easily gained. The same remarks apply to the next stroke, but from 3 a ‘run through’ with right-hand side is required so as to get to 4. Here there is the option of dropping ball X quietly into the middle pocket, leaving an easy shot on Y, or of stabbing Y and getting position 5. If the latter stroke is successfully played, the rule of ‘never play for a middle pocket at single pool’ should decide the striker to drive X gently down to the left-hand bottom pocket, leaving his ball safe under the side cushion.

The break shown in Diagram II. is by no means so easy. It may be played as follows:—From position 1 a gentle stab, screwing back a little, should be played; from 2 is required a semi-follow with left-hand side. For the third stroke strong right-hand side is used, the top cushion being utilised or not according to fancy; and the fourth also requires some right-hand side, but the proper play is to try to get such position as will leave a shot for a corner and not a middle pocket. It may also be noted that by playing on ball Y first there will be but a poor chance of getting ball X in the course of the break, as ball Z will clearly be the next one to play at. These two breaks are only suggested for useful practice, and to show the beginner some of the devices necessary for success.

I will now discuss certain strokes of frequent occurrence, for which special hints are necessary, plants and doubles being among the most important. They have been to some extent dealt with already,^[22] but are more common at winning-hazard games than at billiards, and consequently not only do they demand careful attention, but also verification by practice, the relative positions of the balls being frequently altered, and the varieties in the results noted and studied. Another very important class of strokes occurs when the object ball is under the cushion, a common situation in all games of pool. Diagram III. shows two examples, though stroke B is really only a modification of stroke A; still, it deserves separate consideration, as the hazard is very difficult, and the position of the striker’s ball after the stroke has been played is most important. Example A may be considered typical; the player’s ball is on the centre of the Ｄ and the object ball half way up cushion 2. Play slowly, about No. 1 strength, so as to hit ball and cushion simultaneously. Ball 2 will drop into the pocket, and ball 1 will travel towards the spot. If position is desired to the right of the spot, a little left-hand side should be used, and it even seems to make the hazard easier; a sharper stroke with right-hand side will bring ball 1 towards the middle of the table. This stroke should be practised with ball 2 at such positions as P, Q, R, and S, and the resting place of ball 1 should be carefully observed. It is clearly not a good stroke for single pool, as the balls are left too close together. Stroke B is not at all easy, but it is worth playing for, as it cannot leave much. Ball 2 must be cut very finely—in fact, play just not to miss it. If it is missed on the upward journey, left-hand side, which is almost essential to the stroke, will cause ball 2 to be hit from the cushion, X and Y show the direction of ball 1 according as no side or left-hand side is used.

There are no strokes more common and none which require more care than those in which the object ball is close to a cushion, nearly at right angles to the path of ball 1 and a long distance from it. The paths of both seem, from the mere proximity of the cushion, to be regulated by an entirely new code of dynamic laws, the fact being that the whole conditions of the case are not correctly realised. It is here that the inestimable qualities of side, as an agent productive of pace, are called in to assist; for by playing with direct side and cutting ball 2 very fine, its course will be restricted, and the side will cause ball 1 to travel freely down the table; but here, as in all things, an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory, and more can be learned by an hour’s practice than a week’s reading.

To the serious student the ‘R.-W. Billiard Diagram Notebook’^[23] is recommended, in order that the results of practice and observation may be recorded, for, as Captain Cuttle might have said, ‘These things, when found, should be made a note of.’

Diagram IV. shows a useful double in stroke A, ball 2 being some distance below the middle pocket, and two or three inches from the cushion. Ball 1 should be placed approximately as shown in the diagram; but practice and experience can alone show the exact place, depending as it does on the position of ball 2. To make the double, play full on ball 2. Ball 1 can be made to reach the top of the table, if desired, by the use of strong left-hand side and follow. For single pool a stab is of course the right stroke. If the top pocket is blocked, or if for any other reason (e.g. for the sake of position) this stroke is undesirable, there is a good chance of a double as shown in stroke B, ball 2 being struck half-ball, and ball 1 following approximately the lines terminating in X. For the sake of practice the position of ball 2 should be shifted towards the pocket, and also further down the table. The further it lies from baulk, the finer must be the cut, and the harder the stroke. The position of ball 1 should be carefully noted each time, and also the point at which the object ball having been gradually moved down the table, a kiss occurs and prevents the double into the middle pocket.

The stroke shown in Diagram V. is of common occurrence in single pool, and may appropriately be here explained, as every game of pyramids eventually becomes one of single pool. The type of stroke is so important that it should be practised from various positions—first without side, and then with side both right and left, the ultimate position of the striker’s ball being the main feature of the stroke. The direct hazard is of course on, but only special circumstances would justify any but a first-rate hazard striker in trying for it. In the diagram P Z shows the course of ball 1 when no side is used, Q Y when played with strong left-hand side, and R X when strong right-hand side is employed. Strength is most important, and observation alone will show when a kiss occurs as the balls cross each other’s track; but the chances of this are much diminished when reverse side (in this case left side) is used. If ball 2 is near the cushion, a sharp stroke is necessary, but the double shown in stroke A, Diagram VI., is the better game. All the doubles shown in this diagram are useful, especially for single pool. Stroke A is played with a stab, stroke B with follow, so as to leave ball 1 under the top cushion. Stroke C also requires a stab, strength being judged so as to leave ball 2 close to the pocket, if it is not holed. In both B and C ball 2 might possibly be cut in, but the double is, for pool at least, the safer stroke.

The question of plants has been already alluded to in Chapter VII., which should be carefully studied, as such shots are infinitely more common with the fifteen-pyramid balls than at billiards. In the plant, pure and simple, the balls are touching or practically touching; but if what may be called the second object ball is fairly near to the pocket, a plant is often worth trying, though some caution is necessary, as a leave is very likely to result if the stroke fails. The principle may be described as playing a ball on to a certain point in a third ball, this point being on the line leading to the centre of the pocket. Thus, by means of ball 2, ball 3 may be holed, though, with a view to a possible leave for the adversary, the stroke is too risky to be recommended for general use.

It should be noticed that a pocket is considerably enlarged so to speak, when there is a ball in the position shown by fig. 2, as from almost anywhere to the right of the diagonal drawn through that pocket a ball may be holed off ball 3, either directly or off cushion 2, or it may be put in without touching ball 3, which will then be left for the next stroke.

Fig. 3 shows a neat stroke. Balls 2 and 3 are touching. The line passing through their centres is at right angles to the line drawn from ball 2 to the centre of the pocket. Then from any point below P Q, and even from some distance above it, a winning hazard on ball 2 is with ordinary care a certainty.

In fig. 4 a useful but rare stroke is shown. The two balls are touching or nearly touching, but are not aligned on the pocket. By playing a push shot, quite quietly, the point of the cue, never quitting ball 1, gradually directs ball 2 towards the pocket. The cue should be directed as much above P as the pocket is below it. A stroke with left-hand side will have the same effect, but to enter into reasons would be to open up the whole question of push strokes.

In Diagram VII. stroke A suggests a method of making a winning hazard which, though in itself easy, may be dangerous when the player is in a cramped position. Ball 2 is close to the pocket, and ball 1 is in a straight line with it, but so hampered by the cushion that a stab shot is out of the question. The hazard may easily be made by playing off cushion 6, as shown, and ball 1 may be left in the direction of the spot. This type of stroke, by the way, is capable of much development and should be studied. The strokes marked B₁, B₂, and B₃ suggest three methods of play in case ball 1 should be angled, ball 2 being in the jaws of the middle pocket. Fortunately such an occurrence is rare; but I once saw it happen at pool, and the player—a very good one—played the stroke marked B₂ and brought it off. Experiment gives the best results with B₁ and the worst with B₃; but which of the three should be essayed depends on the exact position of ball 2 and the chances of making a loser. The point Q is about six inches below the baulk-line, but a few trials will show the exact place. B₂ is of the nature of a massé, and even if ball 1 strikes the cushion above the middle pocket, there is still a chance of success. Should ball 1 be angled for ball 2, the latter being in a corner pocket, the massé stroke is the only chance; in fact, there is a very old trick stroke, made when balls 1 and 3 are in the jaws of the corner pockets and ball 2 in the jaws of the middle, all on the same side; by a similar species of massé ball 1 curves round and outside ball 2 and holes ball 3.

A propos of stroke A, there is a useful method of getting position at the top of the table, if ball 1 can be struck freely. If plenty of follow is used, and ball 2 is struck nearly full, the striker’s ball will rebound towards the middle of the table and then spring forward towards the top cushion again. The stroke requires much freedom, and the explanation of it is to be found in Chapter VI., On Rotation.

Stroke C may be found useful at some time or another. The object ball is resting against the upper jaw of the middle pocket, in such a way that it is impossible to cut it in from baulk; but with a kiss the stroke is absurdly easy. By playing from the end of the Ｄ with No. 1 strength, and hitting the red about three-quarters right, the kiss will send it into the pocket and leave ball 1 in the middle of the table.

The question of occasionally giving a miss may deserve a word, but, as a matter of fact, the opportunities of playing such a stroke with profit are very rare. To begin with, the penalty is a very heavy one, and can only be afforded by a player who has a most commanding lead and whose adversary cannot dare to follow suit. With a score of, say, nine to one, when the leading player has the game in hand, he may, if he please, sacrifice a ball in the hopes of getting a break afterwards; but when the scores are nearly equal, it is clear that if it is worth A.’s while to give a miss, B. can hardly do better than follow his example.

The highest possible break at pyramids (unless the striker owes one or more balls) is, of course, fifteen; this number has frequently been taken by fine players, but the chances of finding a full complement of balls on the table and of being in a position to take advantage of the opening are very small, always presupposing that the ability to clear the table exists. In the quickest game I ever played, my adversary managed to take a ball after the opening stroke, and, gradually breaking up the pyramid, secured ten, and the last five fell to me in the next turn, so that we had but three innings between us, one of them being the break. A capital performance was once done at Cambridge by an undergraduate whose adversary broke and apparently left everything safe; however, eight balls disappeared, nearly all very difficult strokes, in which the player had to consider safety as well as the hazard. In his next turn he cleared the table by a series of similar shots, all, or nearly all, so difficult that once more safety was his main object. This was a very great feat; but the reader need hardly be reminded that at pyramids, as at billiards, the art to be cultivated is the art of leaving a series of easy strokes. I once saw a man who had just made a break of 30 or 40 at billiards turn round and say, ‘What a good break! There wasn’t a single easy stroke in it!’ The real billiard-player would have described it as a series of well-made strokes, but as a break, never.

SHELL-OUT

This game is practically the same as pyramids, but more than two take part in it. A stake, so much a ball, is agreed upon. The balls are set up as at pyramids, but under no circumstances is a ball ever put up after a miss, or when a ball has been forced off the table, or when the white has run in. If any of these things has happened, a point is added to every one’s score except the offender’s, who thus pays the stake to the other players. The score is most conveniently kept on the slate, each ball counting one, except the last, which is generally reckoned as two; all penalties incurred off it are also double, but with the exaction of the penalty the game is at an end. There is no single pool, white always playing upon red. If a player plays out of turn, he has to pay all round; he can gain nothing if he takes a ball, but the ball is not put up. If he makes a foul when only one red ball is left and takes that ball, he cannot score, but the game is at an end. The rules for foul strokes are the same as at pyramids. At the end of the game each player pays or receives the differences. Thus, if the scores stand A. 9, B. 3, C. 4, A. receives 6 from B. and 5 from C., while C. receives 1 from B.

Everything that has been said about pyramids applies equally to shell-out; but as it is a game of all against all, safety is not so much an object as hazard striking, it being clearly useless for A. to leave B. safe so that C. may profit by it. It may also be remembered that if, say, four are playing, the individual has practically a bet of three to one about each stroke. The game, in fact, is more for amusement than for scientific play, though naturally the scientific player will in the long run get more pleasure and profit out of it.

POOL

Pool, the good old-fashioned following pool, is getting out of date. The more racy games of black pool and snooker have jostled it from its place in men’s affections, so once more Cronos has been deposed, and Zeus reigns in his stead. As, however, no article on winning hazard games would be complete without a detailed reference to it, if only because of its antiquity, I will treat it as still instinct with life and energy; and, indeed, as the parent of the more modern games, it deserves our respect. The principles of the game are quite simple.

Each player receives a ball by lot—any number up to twelve can play—and starts with three lives. The order of play is decided by the sequence of the colours on the marking-board, which correspond with the balls. White is placed on the billiard spot and red plays the first stroke from the Ｄ; yellow plays on red, green on yellow and so on, the same order being kept throughout the game, unless an intermediate ball is dead (i.e. has lost all its lives), when the ball that precedes it becomes the object ball; e.g. if red is dead, yellow plays on white, or if both red and yellow are dead, green plays on white. If a player clears the table—i.e. takes all the balls on it—his ball is spotted.

The most important part of the game is to hole the object ball. When this is done, its owner loses a life, and the striker continues his break by playing at the nearest ball, and thus the game proceeds till only one player or two are left. In the first event the survivor takes the whole pool, which is called a maiden pool if he has his three lives intact; in the second the two players play on till one kills the other, or till each has an equal number of lives, in which case the pool is divided. If, however, there are three balls on the table, say red with two lives, yellow with one life, and green with two lives, then if green holes yellow, he has a shot at red, though the number of their lives is equal. This is obviously fair, as he is in the middle of his break. Green, then, has this stroke called stroke or division; if he holes red, the pool is played out to an end—i.e. till both are one-lifers or till green kills red; but if green’s stroke fails, the pool is divided at once. Each player pays the amount of his pool to the marker, this being generally three times the value of a life, though, if lives are only sixpence, the pool should be two shillings. The table-money, generally threepence a ball, and the same for each star, is taken out of the pool before it is given to the winner. A player who is unfortunate or unskilful enough to lose his three lives early can come into the game again by paying the amount of the pool a second time over. This is called starring, as a star is put against his colour on the marking-board, but he only receives the lowest number of lives shown on the board.

As the striker is compelled to play at a particular ball, he is allowed to have any ball or balls taken up (to be replaced after the balls have ceased rolling) which are nearer than the object ball and prevent him hitting either side of it, or which in any way interfere with his stroke (see Rules 20 and 21).^[24] No star is allowed when only two players are left in, but when more than eight are playing a second star is permitted. Sometimes the game is played with an unlimited number of stars, each costing the amount of the pool over and above the price of the last star—e.g. at three-shilling pool the first star costs three, the second six, and the third nine shillings, and so on (see Rules 8 and 9). The striker loses a life (Rule 13) if he holes his own ball, whether he takes the object ball or not; forces it off the table; misses; runs a coup; plays out of turn; hits a wrong ball first; or plays with the wrong ball, except when he is in hand, in which case there is no penalty. All penalties are paid to the owner of the proper object ball, however incurred. If a player wishes to have a ball up, he should not lift it himself, as such an act would be technically a foul stroke. Should a player be angled, and wish to play off the cushion, he may have any ball or balls taken up which interfere with his aim; but the old rules allowed him to move his ball just far enough to get his stroke, though he could not take a life by it.

Rule 28 says: ‘Should a player be misinformed by the marker, he may play the stroke over again, but cannot take a life.’ This seems hard, and is perhaps an instance of summum ius, summa injuria; but the moral for the player is that he must keep his attention fixed on the game and the marking-board. To attempt to replace the balls, and to allow the stroke to be played over again might give rise to much unpleasantness. By Rule 30, ‘Should the striker miss the ball played at, no one is allowed to stop the ball, the striker having no option.’ The striker’s ball after missing the object ball may still hit others, and materially affect the subsequent progress of the game; hence a hard-and-fast law on the subject is necessary.

As it is to the survivor or survivors that the pool eventually comes, it is of paramount importance to cling to life. Many things combine to decide the striker whether to try for safety or for a hazard, or for both together—his own temperament and skill, the state of the score, and the position and skill of the next player and his other opponents. All hands are against every man, so that general rules are impossible, but ‘When in doubt play safety’ is a capital rule. Another useful maxim is, ‘Play for safety with safety-players, play for hazards with hazard strikers,’ as the latter, if they play out boldly, are sure to sell the safety-player sooner or later—i.e. will leave his ball in a position of great danger. But if the next player is close to the cushion, one is justified in playing for a hazard when, under other conditions, safety would be the right game. Again, a bolder style is right in a big pool of, say, eight or ten players, as the chances of being sold are greater. More boldness, too, in playing out for hazards may be shown by a player who is left in with, say, three lives, while the others have only one; but even then it is better to be cautious.

It is generally good policy to star two; many things may happen before it is star’s turn to play again, and he has the great advantage of playing from the Ｄ. A glance should also be taken at the position of the other balls, as the next player may have an easy stroke to play, and every life taken is in star’s favour with a view to the pool. A deliberate miss or coup, so as to be enabled to star well, is not chivalrous, perhaps not fair, but there is nothing unsportsmanlike in playing a more open game with a view to starring. With an unlimited star the question is reduced to one of capital and temperament; but in any case starring is an expensive luxury, and the player who is not judicious may find in himself a parallel to F. C. Burnand’s heroine of suicidal tendencies, of whom he wittily writes the epitaph, ‘In memory of Itti Duffa, the ill-starred maid, who lost her one life in this pool.’

One must play for one’s own hand, regardless of the other players, and undeterred by chaff or sneer from trying for a plant or cannon; but it is generally dangerous to play for a cannon unless very easy, as there is always a chance of the player’s ball following the other into a pocket; but it is no more bad form to try for such a stroke than to pot the white at billiards; whether it is expedient or not, is another question, which only the exigencies of the moment can decide.

The marker is the proper person to measure distances when necessary, but the beginner should learn the right way to do so. One player puts his finger firmly on the striker’s ball, while another gently slides the butt of his cue up to it, holding the other end between forefinger and thumb, thumb uppermost. The point of the cue is then lowered till the cue rests lightly on the top of the other ball, the forefinger being slid up till it just touches the ball. A similar process is gone through with the third ball, the striker’s being held steady the while, and the question of which is the nearer is solved at once. Again, it is the marker’s duty to tell the striker on which ball he has to play, and which ball plays next, the formula being, e.g. ‘Green on yellow, player brown,’ or, if brown is in hand, ‘Green on yellow, player brown in hand,’ and if the striker has to play on his player, the marker must inform him of the fact; as, however, the striker is the scapegoat even if he acts on wrong information, he should keep his attention fixed on the game.

The opening of a pool is more or less stereotyped, all the players endeavouring to lay themselves under the top cushion out of harm’s way, the player being always in hand till white’s turn comes round; thus the last player—brown, let us say, in a five-pool—has to steer himself round the other balls that are clustered at the head of the table, and find his way down to baulk, as white is nearly sure to be high up; in a big pool the last player may have some difficulty, and it is well to remember that, as he can have any ball or balls up that lie between him and the object ball, he can, by selecting a good spot from baulk, have one or two such obstacles removed. The orthodox opening shot for red, by the way, is to play full on to white from a corner of the Ｄ, just hard enough to find the cushion himself. Plenty of drag should be used and no side. Side and screw are of no value except for position, or for playing a slow stroke which is wanted to travel quickly off the cushion.

The late William Cook once made a pool record. ‘Playing in a twelve following pool at his own rooms’ (I quote the words of a fine amateur player who took part in the game), ‘in 1881, he actually cleared the table, playing always of course on the nearest ball. He had taken 20 to 1 five or six times from spectators, and the excitement was intense when he performed this really phenomenal feat.’ As pool is limited to 12, Cook, like Alexander, had no more worlds to conquer; but his hazard striking and position must have been marvellous.

Doubles are of the utmost importance, and the strokes shown in the preceding diagrams should be noted. One may fairly play a middle-pocket double with extra strength if by so doing there is a chance of the double-double, though it is not strictly sound, and shows a certain diffidence as to one’s accuracy. Plants are rare.

A propos of doubles, the following occurrence is probably without precedent, but the story is absolutely vouched for. Three amateurs were playing three-pool. Red opened by doubling white into the right-hand bottom pocket. Yellow avenged white by doing exactly the same to red, and white made matters even by treating yellow to a precisely identical shot. Strange to say, red with his second shot holed white just as before—four consecutive doubles into the same pocket—and, though yellow spoiled the average by only doubling red into the right-hand middle pocket, white made things all square and yellow disappeared into the original pocket. Thus six consecutive doubles were made, five of them into one pocket! What are the odds against such a performance?

As even in these enlightened days the confidence trick flourishes, it may be worth while to warn beginners against innocent strangers. If these win by sheer skill, there is nothing to be said against them, and the best thing is to put down one’s cue; if they are sharps as well, they will probably hunt in couples, on the chance of one playing next to the other, when the first player, curiously enough, never quite gets safety and always leaves a ball over the pocket. I remember just such a pair, a good player and a duffer, turning up at some rooms I used to frequent, and, though none of us were innocents, they played so cleverly into each other’s hands, the apparent duffer making several slight mistakes at critical moments, that the good player had a pretty good time. Talking the matter over, we saw that we had been had, and, as we were rather a snug little coterie, arranged with the marker what was to be done if they reappeared. The pair had posed as absolute strangers and had come in separately, so we told the marker that if the duffer came in first he was to have a ball and we would try to warm him up, but on the good player’s appearance he was to be refused a ball, while we, a fairly sturdy lot, would see the marker through any trouble. All came off splendidly. The duffer appeared first and lost two or three pools, and when the crack walked in he was at once confronted by the marker with ‘I am very sorry, sir, but I can’t give you a ball to-day.’ We expected a row, but he took it like a lamb and decamped, and the duffer, after losing another pool or two, decamped also. One of our party saw them the same evening, hobnobbing together at the Criterion, so there can be no doubt that it was a put-up job. The following occurred to a friend of mine, a good billiard-player, a particularly good pyramid-player, and well able to look after himself. After a couple of games of billiards, on both of which he won a small bet, his opponent, a stranger and apparently a Jew, suggested ‘just one game of pyramids.’ ‘What shall we play for?’ said my friend. ‘Three and one,’ said the Semitic one, which means, as usually interpreted, a shilling a ball and three shillings on the game. My friend won by thirteen balls, but his opponent, after putting up his cue, offered him just four shillings and threepence, being at the rate of three pence a ball and one shilling a game! There was nothing to be done, but I wonder what the Jew would have claimed had he won by thirteen balls.

When four players only are left, and one of them is finally killed, the marker should be careful to call ‘Three-pool.’ Why this is so may not be apparent to the novice, and perhaps it will be cheaper for him to learn from a book than to pay for the information over the table. When four or more players are left in, the striker plays for a hazard, and, whether successful or not, he has no further anxieties beyond the safety of his own ball; but in three-pool a new element is introduced: he must consider where the object ball will finally stop if his hazard fails, and the middle of the table is the very worst position for it. A moment’s thought will show the reason. A., B., and C. are three players: B. plays on A., lays himself safe from C., and leaves A. in the middle of the table. C. having to play on B., is now, in most cases, in a great dilemma; he has no chance of taking B., and with A. in the middle of the table may find it very difficult to get safety after he has played. If he has a long shot from under the cushion, he will probably leave A. a fairly easy stroke, in which case B. may suffer also, so that B.’s own carelessness, or his indifference as to where A. was left, may deservedly recoil on his own head. The amount of consolation meted out to him for having been sold will be the cold comfort of ‘You ought to have played three-pool;’ in other words, ‘You ought, while leaving your ball safe, to have also left A.’s ball in such a position as to make safety fairly possible for C.’ Again, it is only self-defence to leave the object ball near a pocket, in case of a failure to put it in; especially is this advisable when it is very hard for the striker to get safety, for it is clearly to every player’s advantage to have, if possible, a comrade in misfortune.

The general principle of three-pool may be more easily understood from Diagram VIII., which shows two cases in which the obvious stroke for ordinary pool would be quite wrong in three-pool. In each case red has to play on white, yellow being his player. In No. 1 red has a hazard in the middle pocket, but it is not particularly easy, and must be played slowly, so that if it fails white will very likely be thrown by the lower jaw of the pocket to about A, while red drops slowly down to B. Yellow has the poorest chance of escaping white next time, and, being extremely indifferent to what becomes of red, will probably sell him, as he deserves. If red plays the game he will dribble white down towards the left-hand bottom pocket, and be himself safe at C, when yellow will not be forced to run any risks. In stroke 2 it is tempting to play for the double into the middle pocket with strong right-hand side and screw, so as to get near the spot off three cushions; but as this would probably leave white in the middle of the table, and yellow would be in hopeless trouble, the right stroke is an attempted double into the bottom pocket, when left-hand side and screw will leave the striker safe, and yellow will have no difficulty in getting safe also, while, further, the striker will have the best chance in the subsequent finessing.

SINGLE POOL

Many of the more ordinary strokes required at this game have already been discussed; but, as single pool is a most scientific and interesting game per se, it deserves a few lines to itself. As the striker is always playing on his player, the problem of safety is quite different. Two general maxims should be writ large in the striker’s mind: (1) Leave the balls as far apart as possible; (2) Never play for a middle pocket unless it is a certainty. The first of these requires no comment: a moment’s thought will show the importance of the second, which applies equally to doubles and to direct shots, as a stroke for the middle is sure, if it fails, to leave the adversary’s ball in the middle of the table, when he will either have a good chance of a hazard or no difficulty in getting safe.